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The highway drive along Tasmania's north-west coast is rich in beautiful landmarks and scenic vistas.
There are the stark cliffs of the Dial Range, the rolling farmlands that meet the sea in Circular Head, and that's to say nothing of the quaint villages and stunning beaches that await once you leave the highway.
And then, bucking the trend, there's the city of Burnie and its enormous pile of woodchips.
Though some locals claim the woodchip pile is an eyesore, it's a key economic driver for the state. (ABC News)
Several hectares wide at its base and 50 metres above sea level at the summit, the woodchip pile is as recognisable a feature of the city's skyline as kunanyi/Mt Wellington is to Hobart and the Opera House is to Sydney.
But despite affectionate nicknames such as the "Pyramids of Burnie", it is, perhaps, less adored.
And at the September council meeting, Burnie City councillor Justin Grave suggested moving it.
The Burnie woodchip pile is a fixture of the port city. (Supplied: Nearmap)
Why a big pile of woodchips?
The pile has been in place for decades, and like moving an actual mountain, the idea of shifting it may have never crossed the mind of many locals.
Officially known as the Burnie Chip Export Terminal (BCET), the site is managed by TasPorts, which leases it to private forestry company Forico and the state-owned Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT).
In the 2022–23 financial year, TasPorts exported more than 3 million tonnes of woodchips from Tasmania — by far the largest volume of product to leave the state, making it a key economic driver for Burnie and the state.
Woodchip is Tasmania's largest exporter by volume. (Facebook: Mining Mayhem)
But the export of woodchips has been derided by conservationists.
In 2022, TasPorts celebrated moving 10 million tonnes of woodchips since 2014, which Bob Brown Foundation campaigner Scott Jordan said was "bizarre and reprehensible".
Avidly anti-forestry, Mr Jordan said the chopping and chipping of trees was driving climate change.
Mr Jordan campaigns for the the Bob Brown Foundation, a non-profit environmentalist organisation based in Hobart. (ABC News: Loretta Lohberger)
Move the chips, make way for ships
Cr Grave was speaking to fellow councillor Trent Aitken's motion to investigate bringing the new Spirits of Tasmania from Devonport to Burnie amid the state's ongoing fiasco with their delivery.
"Any time the state government has problems with shipping, come to Burnie," Cr Grave said, referring to the Antarctic icebreaking vessel the RSV Nuyina, which cannot sail under Hobart's Tasman Bridge to reach its refuelling port, so it refuels at the other end of the state instead.
Cr Grave was elected to the Burnie City Council in 2022. (Facebook: Gravy Justin Grave)
It was to accommodate the Spirits and the associated terminal and car-parking space necessary for them that Cr Grave made his suggestion.
"We've got plenty of room down the port," he said.
The woodchip pile as seen from the Burnie scenic lookout. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
"So much so that we even hold 5 hectares of woodchips down at the port, which could be moved somewhere else."
The Spirits motion ultimately failed, but echoes of Cr Grave's suggestion remained.
As he spoke, Ian Jones, president of the chamber of commerce's Business Northwest, was nodding vigorously in the public gallery.
"I've been saying for quite a while that it would be great to get the woodchips off the wharf area," he said after the meeting.
Mr Jones supports the relocation of the woodchip pile. (ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)
Not a beloved local landmark
The idea has support from some Burnie locals, who say it is unsightly, particularly to tourists approaching the city by road or sea.
"It's been a bug bear with the locals for a lot of years," said Carmen Shadbolt, who was walking her dog at the South Burnie foreshore recently.
"It's an ugly sight," she said.
Ms Shadbolt describes the woodchip pile as a "bug bear". (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
"I know we've got to have them … but tourists must think 'what on Earth is that?'"
Kevin Patch believes the port's eastern portion could be developed into an attractive marina with an attached park and hotel.
"You come to the beach for a reason," he said.
Mr Patch believes Burnie may be more attractive to tourists without the woodchip pile. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
His ideas echo those of federal Braddon MP Gavin Pearce, who also thinks the woodchips should be moved.
"[It's] the aesthetics of it … Burnie needs to move ahead," Mr Pearce said.
Mr Pearce believes the town could benefit from the same kind of revitalisation that Devonport has received over the past decade, which was funded with public and private investment.
Mr Pearce thinks Burnie needs the kind of makeover Devonport has received. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
"I look at the value of injecting some money at the Living City project … look what that's done to Devonport.
"I see the same possibilities in Burnie if we were to … for argument's sake, move [the woodchip pile]."
What is in store for the future of Burnie's biggest feature?
Mr Pearce and Mr Jones suggested moving the pile to south Burnie, where there is other forestry infrastructure, and constructing a conveyor belt system to bring the chips to the port.
Neither STT nor Forico commented on the suggestion, and TasPorts chief executive officer Anthony Donald said the woodchips would stay put until at least 2049.
"TasPorts has recently invested, and is planning further significant capital investment … to extend the life of the asset for the next 25 years," Mr Donald said, adding that Tasports was a proud supporter of the forestry industry.
Mr Donald said the woodchips would stay put for at least the next 25 years. (ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess)
Mr Pearce and Mr Jones say they also support forestry but believe the woodchip pile's prominence conflicts with how Tasmania's wilderness is marketed to visitors.
"I believe in the future of [forestry] from an environmental perspective," Mr Pearce said.
"But there needs to be balance … I don't think it does anyone any good to see a 38,000-tonne mountain of woodchips on the doorstep of Braddon's second-largest city."
Logs stacked up at Pentarch Forestry's Heybridge depot destined to become chips. (ABC Rural: Rose Grant)